StratMap Screens: Lower-priced markets screen: City Edition (2026 Q3)

Report period: September to December 2026. Enterprise-level data, valid to 31 December 2026. A new report is due in January 2027.

Data screen edition. General information, not a recommendation. The ranking below is a machine pass over the evidence. James reviews, reorders, and writes the strategist view before an edition is published.

How to read this report. Rankings apply a disclosed arithmetic rule to historical data. They are not recommendations to buy anywhere and do not consider your situation. Each market card carries its headline numbers, a radar of the six scores and a table of the suburbs inside its buy band. Every number states its source and period, and the ranking is the same disclosed math on every card.

How these were picked: the six questions and the scoring

Each market is scored on six questions. Every question is a number from the report grid; every value carries its source and period, and the rail call-outs list theirs under Sources and detail.

How many suburbs a working budget reaches. We count ladder suburbs with a house median at or under $900,000, the budget band most of our clients buy in.
What yield the price band pays. The median gross house yield across the middle of each ladder (the P25 to P75 price slice).
Growth pattern. A low 5 year average with positive 1 year momentum scores higher than a big 5 year number that is already banked.
How tight rentals are. The median house vacancy rate across the ladder.
The shape of the local economy. Gross regional product and the unemployment rate.
How deep the market is. Suburb count and 12 month house sales volume.

This edition only admits LGAs where at least three suburbs have a house median at or under $650,000 and the typical gross yield across those suburbs is 4.2 percent or higher. Ranking inside the edition uses the same six questions.

Each question is scaled 0 to 1 across the 36-LGA corpus and the six scores are averaged with equal weight. The rank is that average, highest first. The profitable-sales figure is shown where captured but not scored, because only 8 of the 36 markets carry it.

This edition draws from the tracked metro LGAs (Melbourne metro plus Greater Brisbane), screened for depth under $650,000 at 4.2%+ yield.

Hume

VIC

six question
score / 10

$700,000 to $1,045,000

price band screened

3.48%

yield in band

1.96%

vacancy

6,102

sales 12m

3.63%

house growth

1yr median

Sources and detail

House growth 1yr median 3.63%, 5yr average 3.76% a year HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026

At a glance

Under $900,00012 of 18 ladder suburbs
House growth, 5yr average3.76% a year
Suburbs in the price band5, house medians $718,372 to $824,086
Weekly rent, those suburbs$509 to $566
Strongest and weakest scoreRentals 5.9, Price vs reference budget 3.9

HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026

Open the Hume LGA report

Price vs reference budget 3.9
Yield 4.9
Timing 5.8
Rentals 5.9
Economy 5
Depth 5.2

The six questions, scored 0 to 10 against every tracked market.

Where this market sits

The market plumbing behind the headline numbers, read from the same council record. Each figure is shown against HtAG's published cut points where it has them; a figure the source does not carry is not drawn.

Supply and demand now

Vacancy

2.80%

Under 1%1 to 3.5%Over 3.5%

Share of rental stock empty. HtAG cut points: under 1% is its tight band.

Days on market

32days

Under 3535 to 90Over 90

Typical days a house takes to sell. HtAG cut points: under 35 is its fast band.

Stock on market

0.33%

Under 0.4%0.4 to 1.3%Over 1.3%

New listings as a share of dwellings. HtAG cut points: under 0.4% is its thin band.

Inventory

2.4months

Under 22 to 4Over 4

Months of sales the current stock represents. The balanced-market reference is 3.0 months.

The growth cycle

House price, 10 years

+99.0%

Total change in the typical house price.

House rent, 10 years

+51.7%

Total change in the median house rent.

Growth pattern deviation, 5 year

-11.7%

Against its own long-run trend, 5 year average.

Rent growth, modelled

+1.6% a year

HtAG two year modelled rent change, annualised.

Risk and fundamentals

Flood safety

99/ 100

HtAG index, higher is safer. Property level overlays are checked at due diligence.

Bushfire safety

100/ 100

HtAG index, higher is safer. Property level overlays are checked at due diligence.

Economic diversity (EDI)

HtAG index of how spread the local economy is across industries.

Socio-economic decile (IRSAD)

5/ 10

ABS relative advantage and disadvantage, 10 is most advantaged.

Price volatility

4/ 10

HtAG volatility index for the house market.

Years of income to own

43.6years

A long-run trend line of median income against price, not a literal time to buy.

People

Residents

243,901

ABS Census 2021 count.

Median age

33years

ABS Census 2021.

Household income, weekly

$1,703

ABS Census 2021 median.

Rent, weekly (Census)

$369

ABS Census 2021 median; the market rent in the table above is HtAG's current reading.

Tenure, 2021 Census

Owned outright 24.5% (18,528) Owned with a mortgage 47.4% (35,925) Rented 25.2% (19,067) Other tenure or not stated 1.2% (874)

Source: HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026; ABS Census 2021.

How to read this market

Cheapies screen: 3 suburbs at or under $650,000; typical yield across them 4.38%. HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026

See the evidence behind each score

In-budget depth	Yield at band	Has the run happened	Vacancy	LGA economy	Market depth
12 of 18 suburbs at or under $900,000 HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026	3.48% median in-band house yield HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026	1yr median 3.63% 5yr average 3.76% HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026	1.96% median 18 suburbs with data HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026	GRP not captured unemployment not captured profitable sales: not captured for this LGA HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026	18 suburbs 6,102 house sales, 12 months HtAG API snapshot 31 October 2026

In-band suburbs (inside the price band). Suburbs with a full report link through.

In-band suburb	Median	Yield	Vacancy	Rent pw	Rent 12m
Meadow Heights	$718,372	3.76%	1.7%	$519	-2.26%
Craigieburn	$726,492	3.73%	3.01%	$521	0.58%
Sunbury	$784,819	3.37%	3.25%	$509	0.2%
Gladstone Park	$822,741	3.58%	1.23%	$566	2.91%
Roxburgh Park	$824,086	3.35%	2.1%	$531	0.38%

3 suburbs sit at or under $650,000 with a typical yield of 4.38% across them, 1yr growth median 3.63% against a 5yr average of 3.76%, vacancy median 1.96%.

Podcast and video explainer

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Is this your next move?

The figures on this page describe the area. They do not say whether it fits your position.

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James Thompson, Licensed Buyers Agent. A conversation about whether a purchase fits your position. Not financial, tax or lending advice.

This report is built on HtAG Analytics data. We use AI to help collate it and to produce the report, and the figures are calculated from the data. If anything looks off to you, tell us and we will double check it.

Data sourced from HtAG Analytics

James Thompson
Licensed Buyers Agent
Rethink Residential
Reviewing strategist for the StratMap screen editions. This draft has not yet been reviewed.

Other editions: Composite screen · Lower-priced markets screen · Melbourne Metro: 5 markets by composite screen · Regional Victoria: 5 markets by composite screen · Queensland: markets by composite screen · Lower-priced markets screen: Regional Edition · Highest gross yield markets · Premium Markets: One Million Plus
Rather filter than read? Find your areas by your own numbers across every market these editions draw from.